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http://www.grindtv.com/lifestyle/culture/post/waves-for-water-seeks-to-get-water-filters-to-those-in-need/ People A Lifestyle // Culture Blog Waves for Water seeks to get water filters to those in need The project sprung from the devastation of the 2009 Sumatra earthquake July 24, 2013 by Heather Hansman 1 In 2009, surfer Jon Rose was on a boat on his way to Bali when an earthquake hit Sumatra, leveling Padang and limiting the city’s access to clean water. After witnessing the devastation, he soon founded Waves for Water, a nonprofit that distributes water filters to areas that don’t have clean water. They’ve stepped in after Hurricane Sandy and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Now, Rose and Waves for Water are trying to get travelers to bring filters with them when they travel and drop them off in needy communities so that they’re impacting as many places as possible. As they say, “The idea isn’t to get one person to drop off 100 filters and call it a day. Let’s try to get 100,000 travelers to each pack 10 small filters, or team up with groups to implement projects with larger filters for an entire village.” To get the scoop on the ongoing project, we caught up with Rose: Jon Rose at work; photo by Waves for Water What made you start Waves to Water? Was there one experience or moment? I was aboard a boat off the coast of Sumatra during a surf trip in September 2009 when I felt a slight shake. I had no way of knowing at the time, but a 7.6 earthquake had destroyed the nearby city of Padang, with more than 1,000 lives lost and 100,000 homeless. I came to shore and saw the devastated city. I happened to be en route to Bali to deliver 10 water filters, but with tragedy striking Sumatra, I went into Padang to get water filters into the hands of rescue workers to help those who were most in need of clean water. That was the start of Waves For Water. Jon Rose, backside air, Indonesia; photo by Waves for Water As a surfer, how has your travel shown you the problems with access to clean water? Why is that so important to you? I’ve always been somewhat socially conscious, or tried to be, but as a pro surfer I had a pretty self-indulgent lifestyle. My dad got involved in the water cause; he started the organization Rain Catcher. He worked in Africa, focusing on developing simple ways to catch rainwater and teaching people how to do that themselves so they didn’t have to walk 5 miles to a pond. About six years after he started it, when I was looking for a way to transition out of my surfing career, I thought, “I can do that, too.” I’d seen the need for clean water in all the places I’d surfed. Waves for Water was born out of realizing I could go to all the places I know from surfing and help. If I stuck to that list I’d be busy until I’m dead. Then the project transformed into more of a special ops mindset of providing urgent relief—not always in direct response to a disaster, like an earthquake, but in places that are disastrous day after day. We call this guerilla humanitarianism. What did you guys do after Hurricane Sandy? In my line of work I am used to seeing areas wiped out with a seemingly endless road to recovery. The region devastated by Sandy is no different. The sheer scope of destruction is mind-boggling. Within a couple days of the storm, I knew we needed to be in the coastal communities in New York and New Jersey to provide support. Sandy struck such a personal chord with me because, as a surfer, I knew that most of the communities hit by Sandy were surf/beach lifestyle-based; many of them I had spent time in personally over the years. In addition, I had friends that lost a business or home, or both. On July 16, ultra-endurance athlete and ESPY Award winner Jason Lester finished running across the U.S. in support of Waves for Water’s Hurricane Sandy Relief Initiative. He’d been running since May 5; he left from San Francisco and ran to New York City. He raised money for Michelle and Timothy Kelly, who are the owners of Earth Arts in Long Beach, New York. Hurricane Sandy destroyed their business and home but instead of focusing on their own situation following the storm, the Kellys began to actively help their community to rebuild, putting the needs of others before their own. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/66929449" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> What projects are you excited about now? Probably due to my personal background, I will probably always see things through some sort of a sport-based lens; it’s how I relate and begin to problem solve. A game, a trick, or any athletic feat is just a series of problems/challenges that needs to be solved or overcome. That said, we recently developed a partnership in Brazil, with soccer phenom Neymar Jr. and his institute, Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr., which resulted in 85,000 people getting access to clean water. We named the project “Sede de Vencer,” which means “Thirsty for Winning” in Portuguese. It kicked off this summer, following Neymar and the Brazilian National Team during the Confederations Cup, and addressed the clean water needs for those living in under-served areas in the five cities that hosted the games of the Cup: Brasília, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro. The main philosophy behind Waves for Water has always been to go do what you love and help along the way, and that’s exactly what this was. It really is a great example of our model at work. Ultimately, we designed this model with hopes that it could be plugged into all walks of life, not just for surfers, or the adventurous traveler, but also for soccer players, musicians, clothing manufacturers, chefs, and filmmakers. This project was symbolic. It spoke directly to the clean water needs here in Brazil, but in such a specific way, by coinciding with something everyone in Brazil loves: soccer. This is a concept that, I believe, can be replicated through almost every other genre of life. Why is water so important? People living in impoverished areas die every day from drinking dirty water. While having access to clean water is a luxury that many of us take for granted, there are millions living around the world with no filtration systems in place. Kids drink from the same streams where animals bathe. In addition, there’s no clean water available for surgery if someone is injured, putting the wounded at risk of deadly infections. What can I do to help? What can the surfing community do? You can become a Clean Water Courier! Clean Water Couriers for Waves For Water are travelers distributing filters to those in need around the globe. There are a few different ways to get involved; you can find missions in progress trying to raise money for projects around the world and donate to them, or you can create your own Clean Water Courier Mission and get filters to distribute on your next adventure.